Because I Have Words: Surviving Postgraduate Study in the UK

I don’t know about anyone else but I was a massive Harry Potter geek when I was a kid, starting when I was ooo, 10, I guess?

This lad comes on a long, long way

Now, I haven’t read the books since the last one came out and I powered through it in about two days in order avoid hearing any spoilers but I came across the fanfiction, “Dumbledore’s Army and the Year of Darkenss” and I have to say it is one of the best things I have read in a while. It’s all about Neville and the other teens who had to stay behind at Hogwarts when Snape and the Death Eaters took over. They reformed the DA and turned it into a military academy, essentially, running acts of resistance and information at a time when the mainstream press could not be trusted. Go read, but be warned it is LOONNNGGGG, longer than the books in fact. Worth it though.

It’s a coming of age story, and it’s about kids realising the adults don’t have an effing clue what to do, and that they have to look after each other. It’s about love and friendship and sacrifice. And fianlly it’s about hope in the face of terrible darkness, and picking up the pieces afterwards.